UPDATE: On the SF Giants’ desperation lineup

UPDATE, 5:20 p.m.: “Desperation” is the only word that comes to mind when you see Hunter Pence leading off and Jeff Francoeur in center field. This is not a knock on the two players. It’s just not who they are.

The state of the Giants’ offense is astounding considering the same cast plus Angel Pagan composed the lineup of a World Series title team just one season ago.

They are missing Angel Pagan. The 3-4-5 hitters, Pence, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, are struggling with runners in scoring position. Brandon Belt, though improved since his three-day break, is not putting up the same numbers as last year. Marco Scutaro is caught in a slump he can’t explain and the Giants are getting no ignition from the leadoff spot.

Gregor Blanco was not meant to be the leadoff hitter on a defending World Series championship team. He was supposed to bat seventh and platoon. Now, he is mired in such a long slump, 3-for-45 since the All-Star break, that it might have gotten into his head. Manager Bruce Bochy thinks so.

“His confidence is shaken,” Bochy said. “It’s a hard thing to get out of. I talked to him yesterday. When he was bunting the last time up, he was almost sending a message he’s lost his confidence.”

So Pence leads off, which he did 32 times with the Astros in 2007 and 2008, a guy who is the exact opposite of the typical leadoff hitter who sees a lot of pitches and works counts.

Desperation.

But Bochy had a point when he said, “He’s got energy. He’s going to go up there swinging. He’s not going to see a lot of pitches. He does give you the speed element, which is nice to have. It puts pressure on the opposing team. He’s looking forward to it. He even politicked the last few days. ‘Hey, I want to do it.’ ”

And Francoeur plays center field for the third time in the majors. He played there twice last year with the Royals in Pittsburgh when they lost the designated hitter. Billy Butler had to play a position, so they had him at first base. They wanted Eric Hosmer in the lineup, so they moved him to right field and Francoeur shifted to center.

Francouer played center field in the minors and said returning there tonight will be easier than moving to left, which was a completely new experience for him this year.

“It’s like riding a bike,” he said. “I played there the whole way in the minor-leagues before coming up. They had some guy there in center.”

That would be Andruw Jones.

“I tried to tell Andruw to move to right. They moved me to right,” Francoeur said.

When I reminded him that Madison Bumgarner was not a flyball pitcher anyway, as the pitcher was listening nearby, Francoeur said, “Yeah, he needs 15 punchies (strikeouts). I’ll drop a bomb for him and we’ll be good. We’ll take care of each other.”

ORIGINAL POST: If you’re a Giants fan, you’d like to think a Madison Bumgarner start is the closest thing to a guaranteed win. After all, his 1.55 ERA since June 14 leads the majors and he has pitched nine straight games of at least seven innings with three or fewer runs.

But the Giants have lost three of those games by scores of 3-1, 3-1 and 1-0.

It’s all about the lack of clutch hitting — 2-for-22 in the two Brewers games so far. Also, the leadoff hitters are 6-for-70 since the All-Star break

So, with those numbers in mind, manager Bruce Bochy is shaking it up again. Hunter Pence will lead off (with Marco Scutaro getting a planned night off) and Jeff Franceour will start in center field for the third time in the majors. He did it twice in 2012 with the Royals. Bochy is giving up defense over the potential to score, which he normally hates to do.